So this is probably a notorious preacher’s post that takes an illustration too far, but I can’t help myself.
Have fun with it and maybe learn something along the way.
Here are some ways life is expressed in miniature through the NCAA tournament.
- Our lives don’t stay clean long! Just like our brackets that start out so clean and looking good, our lives are easily marred with sin. Praise God for Jesus!
- Our lives are filled with emotions. The reason we love the NCAA tournament besides great basketball is the heart and emotions of the coaches, fans, and players. It is raw emotion on display. There is sadness, disappointment, joy, happiness, and everything in-between. This is how God made us and it is how live is lived with a range of emotions.
- Our lives have some victories and some defeats. You are going to get some of your picks correct. You are going to have some victories and some losses. Your team may be a cinderella and go dancing for awhile, or your team may be upset. Once again your life is filled with victories and defeats. Learn to expect and deal with both.
- Our lives have many surprises. What makes the tournament so exciting is the upsets and surprises. Who has heard of Mercer or Harvard as big basketball powerhouses this year. Yet they surprised. Life is like a box of chocolate (oh never mind)….
- Our lives are often lived like our bracket attitude. We fill it out knowing very little about basketball, but we think we have a good bracket that will win our Fantasy league. Then when it falls apart we get upset and are disappointed. Did we really think we could pick winners? And can anybody get very many correct?
- Our lives end in climbing a ladder in celebration. The tournament every year ends in a champion. Through the emotions, surprises, and destroyed brackets, someone always climbs the ladders and celebrates. That is the role of the Christian. The Christian overcomes the mayhem and will one day climb the ladder to heaven!
Now go watch the tournament, or in our case, listen to your 9 year old talk incessantly about his bracket and the games.
